ThingDB - Smart Inventory Management

A powerful, searchable inventory system with semantic search, image support, and hierarchical organization. Designed for Raspberry Pi 5. 🐳 Docker coming soon.

Features

• 🔍 Semantic Search - Find items by meaning, not just keywords
• 📸 Image Management - Multiple photos per item with automatic thumbnails
• 🏷️ QR Code Labels - Generate and scan QR codes for quick access
• 🌳 Hierarchical Organization - Organize items in nested categories
• 🔗 Relationships - Link related items together
• 💾 Backup & Restore - Protect your inventory data
• 📊 Statistics - View insights about your inventory
• 🐳 Docker Ready - Easy deployment with Docker Compose

Super Quick Install (One Command!)

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mcyork/thingdb/main/bootstrap.sh | bash

That's it! Visit https://YOUR_IP:5000 🎉

This downloads, installs, and starts ThingDB with HTTPS automatically. Tested on Raspberry Pi 5.

Note: You'll see a one-time certificate warning (self-signed cert) - just click through it.

⚠️ Pi Zero 2 W: Installs successfully but has significant memory limitations (512MB RAM). The ML semantic search features consume too much memory for long-term functionality. Recommended: Pi 4 or Pi 5 with 2GB+ RAM.

🐳 Docker: Docker Compose configuration available but not yet tested. See INSTALL.md for Docker setup.

See INSTALL.md for other installation options (manual install, Docker, development setup, etc.)

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Usage

Adding Items

1. Click the + button to create a new item
2. Add a title, description, and photos
3. Optionally scan or generate a QR code

Organizing Items

• Use "Move Item" to create hierarchies
• Create locations like "Garage → Shelf 2 → Box A"
• Items can have parent-child relationships

Searching

• Semantic Search: Natural language queries
  • "camping gear" → finds sleeping bags, stoves, etc.
  • More detailed descriptions = better results
• Tree/List View: Toggle between flat and hierarchical views
• QR Codes: Scan codes to jump directly to items

Backup & Restore

• Visit the Admin Panel → Backup & Restore
• Create backups before major changes
• Restore from previous backups if needed

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System Requirements

• Python: 3.9-3.13
• PostgreSQL: 12+
• RAM: 2GB minimum (4GB recommended for ML features)
• Disk Space: ~2GB (includes ML models)
• Recommended Hardware: Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5 (2GB+ RAM)
• Tested Platforms:
  • ✅ Raspberry Pi 5 (fully tested, recommended)
  • ⚠️ Pi Zero 2 W (installs but 512MB RAM insufficient for ML features)
  • 🐳 Docker (configuration available, not yet tested)

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Service Management

Once installed, ThingDB runs as a systemd service:

# Check status
sudo systemctl status thingdb

# Start/stop/restart
sudo systemctl start thingdb
sudo systemctl stop thingdb
sudo systemctl restart thingdb

# View live logs
sudo journalctl -u thingdb -f

# Enable/disable auto-start on boot
sudo systemctl enable thingdb
sudo systemctl disable thingdb

The service automatically:

• ✅ Starts on system boot
• ✅ Restarts if it crashes
• ✅ Logs to system journal
• ✅ Runs as unprivileged user

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For Developers

Want to contribute, test experimental features, or understand internals?

See DEVELOPER.md for:

• Development branch access
• Architecture overview
• API endpoints
• Database schema
• Contributing guidelines
• Troubleshooting

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

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ThingDB: Know what you have, find what you need. 📦